Killing Supported; Compassion Thwarted

The flowcharts below are Part 3 of a new Center for Wildlife Ethics initiative to raise public awareness about the disparities in how state wildlife agencies govern their constituents. The Colorado Wildlife Rehabilitation flowchart was originally published by the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Department. The accompanying Hunting License Flowchart describes the process for obtaining a hunting license from the same state agency and was created by Center for Wildlife Ethics solely for comparative purposes.

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The dramatic contrast between the licensing processes is self-evident: obtaining a license to kill an animal can be done with relative ease, yet volunteers interested in saving lives are forced to satisfy burdensome requirements, obtain the cooperation of numerous third parties, and clear a number of significant logistical hurdles before they can even be considered for state licensure. This inequity and agency preference for killing is common throughout the U.S. and is not unique to Colorado. For more information on the funding scheme that enables and incentivizes these pro-killing policies at the state and federal levels, see CWE’s recent publication, Killing for Fun(ds). To view state-by-state minimum age requirements for hunting and wildlife rescue, view our interactive maps.